GONZALEZ AS MICKEY FEELS A LITTLE GOOFY

Uncharacteristic gesture with ears just L.A. star’s latest display of emotion during NLCS

At first trying to laugh away the “mouse ears” maneuver, Gonzalez quickly began looking discomfited when the gesture drew more media attention than the two homers or his .343 postseason average, weakly insisting that he just did it playfully and hoped it would be quickly forgotten.

“It’s just something that doesn’t need to be talked about,” said the former No. 1 overall draft choice out of Eastlake High. “It was just for fun, like I said. I don’t need it to get out of hand here, because it shouldn’t.”

You don’t come away from playing 282 games for the tumultuous Boston Red Sox — while wearing a seven-year, $154 million contract — with even a modicum of naiveté.

Heaven knows Gonzalez is in a different sort of place now — not just in the geographic or sociological respects, but in the sense that he has stepped up as both a leader and postseason performer — and it has brought out something else in him.

Directly across from Gonzalez’s locker is that of Blackbeard himself, the irrepressible Wilson, who has made a career of outrageous behavior between saves. He also faced Gonzalez plenty when he was with the Giants and Gonzalez with the Padres.

Does Gonzalez seem more animated — sorry, Mickey — to Wilson?

“I think he’s in the right atmosphere for that, for sure,” Wilson said. “From what I’ve seen of him from the other side, he’s definitely a threat at the plate. But you give a baseball player the ability to have fun, he’s gonna run with it.

“We are told daily that we’re just playing a children’s game, and we are, so sometimes we’ll act like children.”